Winners of UK's Arts Foundation Futures Awards Announced

The Arts Foundation announce the five recipients of The Arts Foundation Futures Awards £10,000 Fellowship for Animation, Materials Innovation, Music for Change, Theatre-Makers and Visual Arts.

Established in 1993, the prestigious annual Arts Foundation Futures Awards have become known as a marker for future artistic leaders across wide-ranging art forms. The five winning Fellows are:

Animation: Savinder Bual

Materials Innovation: Elissa Brunato

Music for Change: Love Ssega

Theatre-Makers: Lee Hart

Visual Arts: Libita Sibungu

Kully Thiarai, Trustee of the Arts Foundation, and Creative Director and CEO of Leeds 2023, said:

"The practice and work of all the AFFA 2022 Fellows and Finalists is incredibly powerful and consciousness-raising- opening our minds to new insights and understanding. Unfortunately, we are still navigating an incredibly tumultuous and difficult period for our cultural sector, most keenly felt by our independent artists and freelancers. Now, more than ever the opportunity afforded by the Arts Foundation Futures Awards in recognising and financially supporting the livelihoods of artists and creatives feels so vital and urgent."

Animation Fellow: Savinder Bual

Savinder Bual is fascinated by the mechanics and illusory qualities of cinema and early animation. She says, "We live in a time where physical things are disappearing. This has drawn me to juxtapose tangible everyday materials with the relative immateriality of video." Holding an MA in Photography from the RCA, when making her work, Savinder imagines herself to be a cinema pioneer from the 18th and 19th centuries. This period of engineering advancements and mechanical inventions was inextricably linked to new ways of seeing as a form of colonial control, from navigating the seas to the 24-hour clock replacing the sun as a marker of time. Savinder explores the interplay between the moving and the still, creating work that sits between the pre-cinematic and the digital.

The Animation award is supported by The David Collins Foundation and was judged by time-based media artist, Birgitta Hosea; Irish Director, Johnny Kelly; and artist, animator and curator, Edwin Rostron, who says:

"Savinder Bual's beautifully crafted works deal with the very fundamentals of animation in truly exciting and original ways, probing its limits and histories whilst engaging us completely in its potential. From pre-cinematic devices to digital, technology has shaped how we understand perception. Savinder's work investigates these technologies and asks us to consider the histories of control and power so inextricably linked to their development.

Animation has a rich and diverse history; often marginalised as an art practice yet frequently pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the moving image. Savinder continues in a long line of artist animators working with the nuts and bolts of the medium to push it into new ground. Her work stimulates a timely and productive rethinking and questioning of animation as an art form. Savinder's voice is a vital and necessary one for the field, pointing to its future whilst drawing on its past, and she is thoroughly deserving of this award."

Materials Innovation Fellow: Elissa Brunato

Elissa Brunato began her career in embroidery design and production, where she witnessed some of the global and environmental implications of distantly-made design choices. While overseeing production sites and artisanal workshops in India, China and Italy, she learnt that whilst design decisions are made primarily concerning aesthetic and economic values, the consequences often create unnecessary waste at multiple stages of manufacture. Elissa explains, "My work aims to find practical solutions and implement circular design thinking to tackle today's material challenges. I conduct my research through hands-on making, experimentation, user research and expert collaboration." In 2019, Elissa commenced a collaboration with material scientists at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden to develop bio-iridescent sequins made from cellulose - the most abundant plant-based polymer. Most recently, Elissa founded Radiant Matter, a design-led material innovation start-up.

The AFFA 2022 Materials Innovation award was judged by British model, actress, environmentalist, and writer, Lily Luahana Cole; UCL Professor of Materials & Society and TV and Radio presenter, Mark Miodownik MBE; and Architecture and Design critic of The Financial Times, Edwin Heathcote, who says:

"This was a seductive body of work and a compelling meditation on the nature of luxury. Sequins are both an inspired and decadent choice of product, which speaks of throwaway glamour and conspicuous consumption. It is both the best and the worst vehicle for such an investigation and, as such, daring and intriguing. I hope the experimentation and knowledge derived can be put to use in a wider cultural and manufacturing context across typologies and look forward to the next phase."

Music for Change Fellow: Love Ssega

Love Ssega is a British-Ugandan musician, performing artist and songwriter. He has built a varied career collaborating across art forms, while also speaking up for social, educational and environmental issues. Love Ssega is also known as a founding member of Clean Bandit - co-producing "Mozart's House" for the future Grammy winners - all whilst studying at Cambridge University doing a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Most recently he was invited by Brian Eno to join the founding committee of his environmental charity EarthPercent. His last commission, "Airs of the South Circular", used music to highlight how air pollution afflicts the Black community in South London. Love Ssega also features in Music Declares Emergency's campaigns "No Music On A Dead Planet" and "Turn Up The Volume."

The AFFA 2022 Music for Change award is supported by PRS Foundation, and was judged by: Folk Singer, Sam Lee; Founder of Icebreaker One, Gavin Starks, and TV and Radio broadcaster, Edith Bowman, who says:

"I was immediately blown away by our winner who really stood out to be making music true to his identity while sounding unique and exciting. A huge talent using his platform and art to discuss many important cultural issues."

Theatre-Makers Fellow: Lee Hart

Lee Hart is a director, devisor, and practitioner, making ambitious theatre experiences with, and for, communities. Since 2012 Lee has developed, delivered, and creatively directed the Our Space project with The Theatre Royal Plymouth - a theatre-making programme working with adults who may have faced challenges involving homelessness, isolation, mental health issues or re-offending. In 2019 Lee formed Voodoo Monkeys with Our Space participant Jason Brownlee. The company is currently rehearsing Today I Killed My Very First Bird - written by Jason and based on his experiences of childhood. In 2022 Voodoo Monkeys will begin work on a new project with Iranian born Fariboz Ferridouni, a survivor of the Iran/Iraq war and political exile, living in Plymouth.

The Theatre-Makers award is supported by The Maria Björnson Memorial Fund, and was judged by Director of Creativity and Social Change at Battersea Arts Centre, Liz Moreton; Director of Kate Pakenham Productions, Kate Pakenham; and Artistic Director and CEO of New Art Exchange, Saad Eddine Said, who says:

"Artists have the ability to change peoples lives. Lee's co-created work is living proof of this. I am extremely excited to closely follow his next steps. His leadership, creative mind and set of values are what the world needs most to recover and strive post-pandemic."

Visual Arts Fellow: Libita Sibungu

Bristol-based Libita Sibungu grew up in Cornwall, this experience has informed their ongoing exploration into space and place spoken through the movements of black and brown bodies in rural landscapes. With collective work, storytelling and performance, Sibungu gathers and samples displaced voices into holding and healing environments to explore sites of remembrance. The project continuum; Quantum Ghost (2019) is a lament to memory comprising a series of large-scale photograms, an immersive sound installation, and a programme of live performances. Mapping a journey through archives and territories related to Sibungu's heritage, connecting the mining regions of Namibia and Cornwall, revealing how the echoes of colonialism and diasporic migration reverberate through the deep-time of geology.

The Visual Arts award is supported by The Yoma Sasburg Estate and was judged by Director of Tate St Ives, Anne Barlow; Director of Aesthetica, Cherie Federico; and Visual Artist, Oreet Ashery who said:

"Seeing Libita Sibungu's exhibition Quantum Ghost at Gasworks in 2019 left an imprint on me. The sense of spaciousness and speculation alongside the generosity of immersive offering was profound as we found ourselves attuned to the sound in a boundless tunnel. The work presents a powerful approach to embodied experiences that emerge from archives of extractions and colonialism."

Mary Jane Edwards, Interim Director of The Arts Foundation said,

"Given the ongoing precarity across the arts and culture sector, The Arts Foundation is really pleased to provide unconditional financial support to artists and creative practitioners at a pivotal moment in their practice. We are greatly encouraged by the ingenuity, generosity, and often challenging, and interdisciplinary focused practices of all the AFFA 2022 Fellows and Finalists. We have no doubt their respective work will have a significant impact, and it is such a privilege to be able to support their artistic development and career trajectories."

The AFFA 2022 Finalists their artistic practice, and included: Animation: Sophie Koko Gate, Mary Stark and Petra Szemán; Materials Innovation: Riccardo Cenedella, Guan Lee and Patrick Morris; Music for Change: Max Barton & Jethro Cooke (Slowstepper), Eliza Shaddad and Hanna Tuulikki; Theatre-Makers: Anna Himali Howard, Helen Monks & Matt Woodhead (LUNG) and Conrad Murray; Visual Arts: Rhea Dillon, Sadé Mica and Shenece Oretha.

You can watch the AFFA 2022 Award Presentation online, and explore the work of all AFFA 2022 Fellows and the Finalists on The Arts Foundation website: artsfoundation.co.uk

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